A bitter start leads to a sweet conclusion.
“What Money Can Do / Make you feel invincible. // What No Money Can Do / Make you feel invisible.”
As the daughter of one of Lexington, Kentucky’s wealthy families, Chloe Brooks leads a privileged life. As she readies for a summer including a trip to Europe and music camp in Los Angeles, she parties the night away alongside her boyfriend and best friend at an event celebrating her father’s success. The next morning, Chloe’s life is upended as she watches her father’s arrest on fraud charges. She and her mother retreat to Limestone Apartments, a complex on the racially integrated working-class side of town where Chloe’s mother grew up. Long neglected and in disrepair, the complex is their only asset that the state can’t seize since it’s in her mom’s name alone. Chloe’s culture shock is soothed by the camaraderie of the complex’s teen residents, especially the charming optimist Clint Jackson, who shows Chloe that kindness and love don’t cost a thing. Highlighting Chloe’s insecurity, shame, and increasing self-awareness, the book elicits readers’ empathy as she struggles, learns, and develops a newfound sense of self. However, the story sometimes glosses over the harsh realities of poverty and racism, risking making the Limestone community feel like props for Chloe’s growth. The mother-daughter relationship shines brightest, while Clint’s buoyant attitude keeps the tone afloat. Primary characters are cued white; secondary characters are identified as Black, Latine, and queer.
A bitter start leads to a sweet conclusion. (Verse fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781547610211
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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